Personally, I always thought ink cartridges were expensive, but apparently technology that goes into printer ink can help make some solar energy devices cheaper. A professor and a doctorate student at Oregon State University have submitted a patent for a ...

Ink-jet printing is contributing to a breakthrough in the production of thin-film solar devices. Oregon State University engineers submitted a patent for a printing process and chemical solution that could significantly reduce the cost of producing solar energy cells.

The future of Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit has spurred debate in public hearings in the Legislature recently. And at least one thing is certain about the program that provides incentives for conservation, manufacturing and renewable development projects: It will soon be much smaller.

Mayor Sam Adams and a handful of city and state officials announced today that SoloPower would establish its new manufacturing facility in Portland, and not Wilsonville, as considered previously. The company could end up in North Portland’s Rivergate industrial park, and will definitely be within the city’s enterprise zone, which yields a $17.9 million property tax break.